Sodapop's Mistake
by Party-Shoes16
Summary: No longer a one shot due to several requests. Soda forgets to do what Darry asks, and it gets him in trouble. Plain & simple.
1. Chapter 1

Sodapop's Mistake

Disclaimer: Sadly, I must once again admit that I do not own The Outsiders, but if I did Johnny and Dally would have lived.

"I'll be back later," Sodapop Curtis called as he headed out the door, stuffing the list of things Darry wanted him to get at store into the front pocket of his warn out jeans.

"Hey, Soda, don't forget to take my tools out of the back of the truck before you go," Darry yelled from his younger brothers' room where he was trying to sort between the clean and dirty laundry.

"Ok," Soda yelled back as he climbed into the driver's seat.

Like his father, Soda drove fast and reckless. He lived his live in the same way. That's how he liked it.

Soda was at the store in less than five minutes, and that's when he made a startling discovery. Darry's tools were still in the back of the truck. Soda had forgotten to take them out. What if someone stole them while he was shopping? They couldn't afford to replace the tools, and Darry used them everyday at work. He was starting to panic.

"Ok," Sodapop told himself. "I'll just grab the things on the list, and pay. That shouldn't take too long, and I'll pray to God that nothing gets stolen. It will be all right. Ponyboy still went to church, didn't he?"

Soda took a deep breath. He felt better until he realized that he had been talking to himself. He decided to go with his original plan that had already been thought out.

Entering the store, Soda zoomed through the isles. He got what he had come for and quickly proceeded to the checkout counter.

When he walked outside with his bags in hand, Soda noticed that all of Darry's tools were still where they had been left. Soda couldn't help feeling relieved. He got into the truck, and drove home.

Once inside, he began to put away all the groceries. Soda was almost finished when Ponyboy walked in the door, followed by Johnny.

"Hey, guys," Soda greeted them.

"Hey Soda," Pony greeted back. "You know me and Johnny were walking back from the theater today, and well, we saw the truck parked there at the store."

"Really?" Soda asked in alarm. "Was anyone else with you two?"

"No, just me and Johnny."

"Good," Soda replied in relief.

"But I wanted to tell you that Darry usually takes his tools out of the truck if he plans on going somewhere where he doesn't need them," Ponyboy told his older brother.

"Shh," Soda put his finger to his lips. "I know that. Darry told me to take them out, but I forgot.

Ponyboy's eyes went wide. He knew that all of Darry's tools were expensive to replace if they ever got broken or stolen. He couldn't believe Soda had taken that chance. Darry would not be happy when he found out about this.

"Not a word of this to Darry," said Soda as if hearing Pony's thoughts. "You understand me? Not a word, or I'll let it slip about what was playing at the theater," Soda threatened.

"Soda, we didn't go see that," Ponyboy protested.

"We went to see "Gone with the Wind," said Johnny.

"Besides, it's not like any of Darry's tools were stolen," Pony continued.

"I don't care. Not a word from either of you; got it? This will be our little secret."

Ok," Ponyboy and Johnny both agreed. "Not a word." They both pretended to zip up their mouths and throw away the key.

AN: Please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter # 2

Not one word was said to Darry about Sodapop's mistake when he got home that night, and Soda felt somewhat relieved. He figured that if Darry had found out, he would have come down on him already. Soda was off the hook, or so he thought.

Darry did know, and set about doing something about it later after they had all eaten dinner.

"Soda," Darry said to him the next morning," I'm getting a ride to work today. We're going out to a new construction sight."

"Do I need to pick up Pony from school," Soda asked.

"No. He'll get a ride with Two-Bit because track practice was canceled for this afternoon. Enjoy your day off," Darry yelled as he headed out the door.

Soda had been given the day off because his boss thought that all the fumes from working on the cars were starting to seep into his brain.

Darry knew Soda was warn out. It was how he felt too. He decided to leave his tools in his truck for the day sense they would only be surveying the sight, and drawing up blue prints. Darry wouldn't need them today, and he really didn't feel like transporting them.

Darry didn't think that Sodapop had plans to go anywhere as tired as he was, but just incase, he took out a bag of water softer. Darry placed it carefully behind the back tire.

He figured that this would remind Soda to take his tools out of the tuck when he was going somewhere. Darry assumed that his brother was smart enough to get the message if hit the bag that was supposed to keep him from taking off.

Soda didn't know exactly what to do with himself. He thought that having to story home with nothing to do was even worse than having to sit in school everyday.

After a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and chocolate cake, Soda tried watching some TV. There was nothing on, even if it could keep his attention long enough.

Soda then thought that he maize well clean up the house. It was nearing that dreadful time again when someone from the state would come by to check on them.

Sodapop did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Next he tackled the bathroom. That was the easy part.

With a deep breath Sodapop marched into his and Ponyboy's room. Stuff was strewn everywhere.

"Ok. Let's just take this one step at a time," he told himself.

Soda started with all of the clothes that were everywhere. He didn't know for sure which ones were clean and which were dirty, so he decided to wash them all. After all the clothes had been picked up and put into the washer, Soda began to notice that the room looked a little neater.

All of Ponyboy's books were stacked and put away neatly. Sodapop even took the time to try to alphabetize them the way his baby brother always liked them.

All of Sodapop's car magazines were put into the magazine been, and all of the non car related magazines were carefully put into hiding. Soda didn't want a repeat of last week when Darry had caught Ponyboy looking at one.

He and Ponyboy had been in big trouble then, and Soda was still a little store from where Darry had popped him good.

When the messy room finally managed to regain it's true function and form, Sodapop finished up the last bit by dusting and vacuuming the house.

He was exhausted. Now he understood how Ponyboy felt. House cleaning was usually the kid's job. However, the exhaustion didn't last long. Soda was bored out of his head once again.

Suddenly, Soda remembered something. Like a lightning bolt he was in his room digging through his non related car magazines. He found the issue he was looking for at the bottom of the box. It was a new one that he had told Steve he could borrow.

That gave Soda an excuse to get out of the house and something to do. He grabbed the magazine and the keys from the kitchen counter. It was time to meet Steve for lunch.

Sodapop hopped into the truck and back swiftly back down the road where he came to a sudden stop. An orange power cord was lying on the side of the street.

Soda got out, and looked at the cord. It was a long one. Sodapop followed it to the back of the truck where he discovered that it was still attached to one of Darry's tools. Wondering why Darry had to leave his tools in the truck all the time, Soda began taking the out. Unfortunately he failed to even notice the bag of water softener which he had just ran over.

"Hey man, what ya doing here?" Steve asked when he spotted Soda drive up.

Soda pulled out the magazine. "I didn't want ya o get bored. Tuesdays are always our slow days."

A smirky grin appeared on Steve's face. "So I take it you won't be needing this back." He dodged Soda's punch. "So how much trouble did you get in for showing this to the kid?"

Soda shook his head. "Man, we both got nailed. I just finished cleaning up the house." That wasn't really his punishment, but Soda wasn't about to let Steve know that.

About an hour later, Dally walked into the DX. "Hey Soda," he yelled. What's all that white stuff in your yard?"

"What white stuff," Steve asked looking at his best friend.

"Hey, I don't know what it is. There's this white stuff all over the place, and it's washing out into the street."

Soda gave him a blank look.

"Well go home and see for yourself," Dally said.

They all piled into the truck and headed for the Curtis house. Soda drove fast, and as he came upon the street he was greeted by a bunch of white stuff just as Dally had told him.

"Man, Darry is going to kill you," Steve said. "You're dead and buried."

"Not if he doesn't find out," Sodapop replied through clinched teeth. "He doesn't know for sure that it was me."

At that very moment, a strange truck pulled up to the house. Darry got out on the passenger side. "See ya tomorrow Jake," Darry waved at the driver. "What the … Sodapop Patrick Curtis!" Darry yelled.

AN: Please levee me a review. Also please excuse any misspellings. Some of my keys are broken on my keyboard.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter # 3

Both Steve and Dally high tailed it out of there as fast as they could. You'd think demons were after them the way they were running.

It was one thing to hang around when Darry was upset with Ponyboy, but with Sodapop in trouble it was different.

Soda watched them go. He looked at Darry who was standing with his arms crossed against his chest and a deep frown upon his face.

"Do you have something you want to tell me?" It was in the form of a question, but coming from an angry Darry it was a command.

It was only then that Soda realized that he had been driving the truck with all of Darry's tools still in it. White chunks of water softer were displayed al about the yard, and the torn open bag was no where to be seen.

"I- I can explain," Soda started. His voice sounded weak and childish, even to him.

"I'm waiting for one," was Darry's response. Sodapop thought his brother looked angrier than the time he had accidentally shut the garage door on the truck. Come to think of it, he had been making an awful lot of frugal mistakes lately.

The mirror had been damaged when he had hit the truck with the lawnmower the weekend before, and he had backed into a dumpster the very next day at work when he had to move the truck to give customers more available space.

"Have you seen the inside of the house?" Soda asked. It was the first thng he could think of.

"What did you do to the house?" Darry asked.

"I cleaned it," Soda replied trying really hard to work his big, reckless grin on Darry.

It never worked though. Darry grasped his kid brother by the shoulder firmly, and marched him inside.

The place was clean and spotless. Sodapop hadn't done a bad job, though it didn't have the same touch as Ponyboy's house work did.

"I even picked up our room. All the books are stacked and clothes are picked up."

"You're still not off the hook," Darry warned. "Did you get rid of all the magazines?"

"Sure did."

"You gave them to Steve, didn't you?"

"Maybe." Darry could see right through him.

"Well, I don't care just as long as you keep them away from him. Pony's already getting a false sense of what having a girlfriend is like thanks those idiot friends of yours."

"Hey, they're your friends too," Soda protested. For the first time that afternoon Sodapop dared meet Darry's gaze. "So, what do I get?" he asked.

Darry walked into the kitchen, motioning for Soda to follow him. "Help me get dinner started; you'll find out. I'm cooking tonight. No more of your crazy food experiments. Ponyboy can't handle them. The school nurse told me she had never seen anyone throw up rainbow colors before."

At that moment the front door opened, and Ponyboy walked in followed by Johnny and Two-Bit.

"Hey Two-Bit, you forget where we live?" Darry called out sarcastically.

"Whoa, sorry there Superman, but Dally came up to us just as we were leaving. He said Soda was in for it, and to give you some time to cool off."

Then Two-Bit turned to Sodapop. "So, what ya get?"

"Darry hasn't told me yet."

"Johnny, you staying?" Darry called.

"He's staying," Ponyboy answered for him.

"Well, I'm out of here. I'm gonna meet Steve and Dally out at Buck's. See ya latter." The door slammed shut behind him, and he was gone.

"Were ya been all this time?" Soda asked their baby brother. "I though track practice was canceled."

"It was, but we…um…I mean…"

"Ponyboy's been helping me with school," Johnny filled in. I'm now passing all my classes thanks to him, not that my parents care."

No one dared to even try to come up with a response for that one.

AN: Pease leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter # 4

"Ponyboy, you and Johnny go do your homework. Soda's got dishes tonight," Darry said as everyone finished dinner.

Soda sulked. He knew Darry was getting them out of the way before he came down on him. Quickly he began to pick up dishes clanging them loudly so that he could pretend that he couldn't hear his older brother. It didn't work of course.

Johnny and Ponyboy both laughed as they watched from a safe distance. "We better go do our homework for real," said Ponyboy. "Thanks for covering for me with that homework help thing. Darry would go ballistic on me if he knew I'd gotten detention. I'd be in worse trouble then Sodapop."

"So what's Darry gonna do to him?" Johnny asked.

"I don't know. Soda's been getting himself in a whole lot of messes lately. Have you seen all the new dinks and scratches on the truck?"

Johnny shook his head, and Ponyboy then began to tell his best friend about everything.

"Man," Johnny exclaimed. "I've never seen Sodapop in trouble like this."

"I hate it for him, but I'm glad it's not me Darry's drilling for once."

"Do you think Darry might…you know…like he did with those magazines?"

"Darry got both of us for that, not just Soda," Ponyboy replied. "He sure would whip me good though if he ever found out that I had detention."

"And that you lied about it on top of that."

"You were the one that told him I was helping you with homework. That makes it your lie," Ponyboy reminded his friend.

"Oh no Pony, you are not dragging me into this."

Suddenly both boys heard loud yelling coming from the kitchen. They both jumped up, and Ponyboy quietly opened the door without a sound. They stepped out, and crept along the wall where they stopped to listen.

"I thought I had them all paid off Darry."

Yeah, and then you get another one," Darry yelled.

"So I made a mistake. I admit it, but what's done is done," Soda pleaded.

"You've been making too many mistakes lately Sodapop Patrick Curtis," Darry informed his kid brother.

Pony winched. Darry only used their full names when they were really in trouble. He knew Soda was in for it big time now.

Darry voiced a list of all the mistakes Soda had made, the tools in the truck that they couldn't afford to replace if they had been stolen, the torn open bag of water softener that Darry had placed behind the wheel to prevent Soda from going anywhere, the dinks in the truck from where Soda had hit it with the lawnmower and backed it into the dumpster. He ended with the speeding ticket. "And that's only this month," Darry stated.

Soda didn't say anything. He just looked down at the floor, and waited for his older brother to pronounce sentence.

Darry sighed heavily. "I hate to do this Sodapop, Darry began, "but until you can show me you can be responsible when you have charge of the truck you won't be driving."

"But-but-but…" Soda stammered.

"Give me your driver's license," Darry ordered.

"No," Sodapop protested strongly.

"Give me your license now," Darry commanded more firmly.

"No," Soda said again.

"Sodapop, give me your license now, or I will take a strap to you. Do you understand me?"

Soda's eyes widened in surprise, as did Ponyboy's. Darry hadn't even used a strap when he had punished them for the inappropriate magazine incident.

Reluctantly, Sodapop pulled his license from his wallet out of his back pocket, and handed then over to Darry.

Soda then looked up and for the first time that night dared meet Darry's dangerous gaze. It was stern and angry, but warm and loving.

"How long?" Soda asked in a small voice.

"A month, and then I'm gonna put you on a trial period."

Sodapop nodded. He could have gotten worse. Then out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of black and reddish brown hairs in the hallway. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Did you hear that Ponyboy?" Sodapop yelled at the top of his lungs. Johnny jumped.

"He found us out," Johnny whispered.

"I can't take you to the drive in for a month, so if you want to see…"

"We gotta stop him," said Pony as he ran to the kitchen and attempted to cut off Soda's last words. "We didn't go see that and you know it," Ponyboy said.

Soda laughed as the two tumbled to the ground. "I know that's what you said, but none of the gang was there. You can't prove it," Soda insisted as he rolled on top of his baby brother, and pinned him to the ground. "Yell Uncle."

Help Johnny," Pony called. Johnny appeared seconds latter from the hallway.

"So what was it that the two of you went to see?" Darry asked Johnny.

"Gone with the Wing," Johnny replied truthfully.

"That's what I thought," Darry said, and with that joined his two kid brothers in their ruff housing.

AN: Hope you enjoyed the story. Fill free to leave a review, and check out my other stories if you are hungry for more.


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